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Wife to a wonderful husband and mom to a beautiful daughter.
Our daughter is 14 years old, in 8th grade, and has been homeschooled from the start.
I write reviews, host giveaways, and enjoy homeschool life!

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To be in compliance with the recent FTC ruling that bloggers need to disclose if they are being paid or compensated for their posts, the following is my disclosure policy:

Our Homeschool Reviews is a blog written by me, Christine. Its sole purpose is to share homeschooling products and ideas with you.

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Friday, October 31, 2014

The setting is France on August 24, 1572 during the Roman Catholic/Calvinist Protestant religious wars. More than 2,000 French Huguenots, men, women, and children, were massacred for their faith. This story is brought to life in the Jim Hodges Productions - St. Bartholomew's Eve, by G.A. Henty and PDF Study Guide.

St. Bartholomew's Eve: A Tale of the Religious Wars in France includes 13 hours of audio drama. Henty vividly depicts Admiral Coligny’s unflinching bravery, Queen Elizabeth’s vacillating foreign policy, Catherine de Medici’s vindictive scheming, and the Queen of Navarre’s inner strength as he recounts the adventures of Phillip Fletcher, who journeys to France to take part in the Huguenots’ struggle for freedom.The MP3 CD is broken down into 22 sections as you can see below. Each runs approximately 30 to 40 minutes.

St. Bartholomew's Eve is an unabridged recording of a classic G. A. Henty historical novel. George Alfred Henty was an English novelist and war correspondent. He is best known for his historical adventure stories, stories that grew out of the tales he told his children after dinner. Before he died in 1901, he had written 122 books.

The PDF Study Guide that can be purchased to go along with the audio drama is extremely comprehensive and a whopping 68 pages long. Each chapter of the audio is covered and the guide includes an extensive list of vocabulary words, questions, and activities. After every five to six chapters there is a quiz {four total}. At the end of the study guide there is an answer key for parents with answers to both the questions and quizzes.

For families who wish to dig deeper into the story and learn more about the time period, people and places, I would recommend purchasing the study guide to go along with the audio.

My Thoughts: We listened to St. Bartholomew's Eve in the car on a trip to visit some family. We selected this title because it is during the time period we are currently studying. The recommended age is 10 and up. My daughter is 11 years old so I thought it would be a perfect fit for her and interesting for hubby and I. Unfortunately, this particular title was a little too dry for us. It was hard to get into and never seemed to really pick up. I'm not sure if it was this particular title or just us though. We have listened to other G. A. Henty audio dramas and enjoyed them so try it out for yourself.

As you might have already guessed, The Forbidden Book is about the story behind the preservation of the Bible.

Hosted by Dr. Craig Lampe, this one-hour documentary gives a detailed history of the Bible from its origination to its preservation. It highlights important Christian men like John Wycliffe, Martin Luther, and William Tyndale.

John Wycliffe, the brilliant 14th century Oxford scholar who translated the Bible from Latin to English in order to enlighten the masses oppressed through ignorance. Martin Luther, who was one of the few who challenged church authority in the 16th century and lived to tell the tale.William Tyndale, who printed the Bibles in the English language, and unfortunately, was not spared like his friend Luther.

Of course we were excited to learn more about John Wycliffe since we are currently reading about him.

This hour-long video is shot across Europe, so the viewer is able to see the historical sites that coincide with the story. I thought this brought a little life to the film and it was interesting to see the actual sites where things happened long ago.

My Thoughts: While we were hoping for an exciting and entertaining story of how the Bible was preserved through these courageous men, it seemed to fall a little short for us. Funny Bunny, who is 11, along with hubby and I, watched the video. I think I was the most captivated throughout. Funny Bunny's attention was held for the majority of the presentation, but it really seemed to drag out in places. The presentation was long at times and reminded me of what I would have watched in school in place of a lecture. It was somewhat academic. Even hubby was ready for a break after about half way through. :(

Thoughts of a 11-Year Old: The Forbidden Book is a movie about the Bible and the people who preserved it, such as John Wycliffe, Martin Luther, and William Tyndale. It was sometimes interesting for me to see things (like how much you paid for your sins to be forgiven) and other times I was kind of bored. I like a good, funny movie, and this was more historical. I think it is more for older kids, but it is mostly very informative.

Find Out More: You can find out more online at New Liberty Videos. The Forbidden Book is $19.95 and runs approximately 58 minutes. It's suitable for general audiences, but I would recommend it for ages 12 and up.

That sounds better than most of the things I eat!! I am still pretty tempted to try one, especially since they are pumpkin flavored, but hubby has told me I shouldn't eat dog treats, so I've refrained. :) Maisy loves them!

Find Out More: You can find out more online at Chewy.com. Grandma Lucy's Organic Pumpkin Oven Baked Dog Treats are just $5.15 for a 14oz bag.Chewy.com has a 100% Unconditional Satisfaction Guarantee. If you're not 100% completely satisfied for any reason whatsoever, return it! They will accept packages within 365 days of the sale date for a complete refund and pay for the return shipping, as long as the product is not used or expired.

This iWitness series help children get answers to questions about the Bible, historical places, people, and events. Each book digs deep to prove the truth.

Doug Powell, who has a masters degree in Christian apologetics, is the author of these interesting and interactive books. He describes each book as a "stack of documents the reader has to make sense of as if they’re doing their own investigation".

iWitness Biblical Archaeology digs into the history of the Bible, from The Flood to The Burial Shroud of Jesus. Did The Flood really happen? Where is Noah's Ark located? This book really delves into how we can answer the questions and more.Reading about the Dead Sea Scrolls and how and where they were found was interesting, as well as the section about Jesus' World. Pictures of Peter's house and a Galilee boat are just a few of the many pictures that really bring the story alive!

Old Testament iWitness explains how the Old Testament is different from the Hebrew Bible. It inquires into who wrote the books of the Old Testament and how they were collected.

From reviewing old manuscripts to looking at the prophets, this book takes the reader on an interesting and thoughtful journey.

I thought the sections on the major and minor prophets were especially interesting. Each is listed with their name, dates, and purpose, along with pictures.

The New Testament iWitness I think is my favorite and most interesting of the three books. It uncovers by sorting through all the information. Who wrote it and how do we know? How was it handed down? Were there any books left out and why?

One of the most interesting sections for me was about the differences in the copies. Sometimes scribes made intentional errors because they thought something needed correcting.

My Thoughts: Overall I think these three books are well presented and visually stimulating for both child and adult. Funny Bunny and I sat together and I read them aloud. She is 11 years old, and although some of the topics were a little confusing to her, she understood and appreciated most of it. We enjoyed looking at the beautiful pictures.

Friday, October 10, 2014

And with her is an adorable new little bundle of trouble, Faith Payne! With a new little adopted sister, EJ can't wait to watch Faith's first steps in Converse All-Stars and hear her cute little giggles.

But not all is going right. CoraLee McCallister is as mean to EJ as ever, and the Space Invader, Isaac, is still going on his space-invading career. And although these things may seem bad, EJ knows the good things - her best friend Macy, her babysitting class, and her two favorite neighbor's wedding - in life will always be there for her, and so will God!

In the third book in the Diary of a Real Payne series, EJ faces the challenges of 5th grade, babysitting, her mean church-and-class mate, CoraLee McCallister, and wedding worries, and her cute but scream-y (and smelly) sister, Faith. EJ makes decisions based on what Jesus would do. And most of all, she lets her imagination run free!

I really liked Diary of a Real Payne Book 3: Oh Baby! because, like the last two, EJ is as silly, imaginative, and unsophisticated as ever, while she still praises and learns about God. I think EJ relates to a lot of us, because, like she says: "I'm a lot like Anne Shirley. Well-meaning but accident prone." I think we all think like this at one point!

The book was outstanding and it definitely made me (as always, with EJ) want more!

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Over the weekend we visited Kennedy Space Center. Afterwards we stopped by hubby's grandma's house and his uncle found this newspaper for us. Pretty timely with the Lunar Eclipse this morning. Make sure you scroll down to see some pictures of that as well.

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Reading About History: Still reading selections from The Story of the Middle Ages and Famous Men of the Middle Ages, but they've added back in some from Peril and Peace and Monks and Mystics. She is enjoying those.

History Storytime: Continuing to read Mystery of the Silver Coins. Still loving it!!

History Written Narration and Timeline:

History Project: This week they had to draw a diagram of a monastery on a grid.

Devotional Bible Study: I have been reading aloud "Beautiful Girlhood" and we have been discussing the questions in "The Companion Guide to Beautiful Girlhood". Chapter 5 is on The Strength of Obedience.